St. Augustine Amphitheatre sells more than 100,000 tickets this year

Wesley Schultz, lead singer for The Lumineers, performs for a sold out crowd on Oct. 18 at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre.

Special to the Record

This year was a banner year for the St. Johns County Cultural Events Division. Year-end ticket sales topped 100,000 tickets at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, up from 84,000 tickets in 2012.

“It is because of the hard work, creativity, passion and dedication of the Cultural Events Division staff that we have been able to reach such a significant goal,” said Ryan Murphy, general manager of the St. Johns County Cultural Events Division.

“Each year gets better and better and it proves to us that we have truly created an organization that can work not just harder, but smarter in bringing quality cultural events to St. Johns County.”

The Amphitheatre’s regular concert season began with a sold out show by the legendary Hall and Oates on March 1, and recently ended with a performance by Grammy nominated band Alabama Shakes on Dec. 7.

Other notable sold out shows included Matchbox 20 on March 17; Styx, REO Speedwagon and Ted Nugent on May 3; Bob Dylan on May 5; Imagine Dragons on May 11; Alan Jackson on May 17; Alabama on Aug. 9; Steely Dan on Sept. 8; The Lumineers on Oct. 18; John Fogerty on Oct. 26, and The Avett Brothers on Nov.15, among many other international touring acts.

The 100,000 ticket statistic does not include the many free or non-ticketed community events, including the Community First Credit Union Night Owl Cinema Series, which brought back the free movie series to the Amphitheatre this summer, or the Community First Credit Union’s A December to Remember free event series which runs until Dec. 22.

Staff from the St. Johns County Cultural Events Division also served as advisers to the City of St. Augustine and was involved in all aspects of planning and execution of the Gentlemen of the Road St. Augustine Stopover featuring Mumford & Sons. This event sold 25,000 tickets and brought tourists to the area.

In addition to advising many events and festivals around St. Johns County, the Cultural Events Division also manages the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, which sold more than 12,000 tickets this year.

For 2014, the Carlos Santana concert on April 27 at the Amphitheatre is sold out, with brisk sales for The Moody Blues concert on March 22.

For a complete show list, go to staugamphitheatre.com and pvconcerthall.com.